White House labels Joe Kent's bombshell letter, claiming foreign control over Trump, as 'insulting'

Washington DC — The White House has again dismissed as false the claims in the resignation letter of Joe Kent, who argued that Iran posed no imminent threat to the US and claimed the conflict was primarily driven by "pressure from Israel" and its powerful American lobby.

Kent resigned as director of the US National Counterterrorism Center on Tuesday. His resignation letter, containing several significant claims, has since become widely circulated.

When asked why US President Donald Trump initially nominated Kent for the position, considering his history of embracing conspiracy theories and alleged ties to white nationalists, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump always thought "Kent was a good guy. Obviously, he has a commendable military record and experience."

"However, he was not someone who was involved in the Presidential Daily Brief, part of the president's intelligence briefings over the last several months, have not seen him here at the White House for quite some time," she said.

Leavitt said Trump finds it deeply disappointing that someone he gave an opportunity to would resign with a "letter of falsehoods", accusing Trump of being controlled by a foreign country (Israel).

"The president feels it's deeply disappointing that after the president gave him an opportunity in this administration to serve the American people, that he would resign with a letter filled with falsehoods, accusing the president of the United States by being controlled by a foreign country — that's both insulting and laughable all at the same time," Leavitt added.

Kent in his letter argued that he "cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran", accusing some Israeli officials and some American media figures of misleading the Trump administration and drawing parallels with the Iraq war.

"Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran."

"This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and you should strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory," Kent claimed.

Kent, a veteran who said he was deployed to combat 11 times and whose wife was killed in a previous war, said he "cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives."

He alleged that Iran posed no immediate threat to the US, attributing the conflict to "pressure from Israel" and its influential American lobby.

"This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again," Kent said.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that "I always thought he (Kent) was weak on security, very weak on security."

Asked why Trump would name someone to run the Counterterrorism Center who he thought was weak on security, the White House press secretary Leavitt said Trump gave Kent a chance but "unfortunately, he was not up for the job."

"We don't want somebody leading the Counterterrorism Task Force who cannot agree that the number one state sponsor of terror in this world did not pose a threat to the United States. That's what, another falsehood, he (Kent) said in his letter of resignation, which is just unequivocally false."

Is Gabbard's job 'in jeopardy' right now?

Leavitt said US decision to go into war against Iran was "backed by intelligence".

"It's backed by the fact that Iran was building ballistic missiles at a rapid rate to build a shield of immunity so they could build a nuclear bomb," Leavitt said, adding Trump’s should be commended and not degraded in the form of a resignation letter "that's riddled with lies."

Leavitt also claimed that "120 naval vessels are at the bottom of the sea because of our United States Armed Forces. That's a great thing. And, of course, to ensure that, yes, Iran cannot permanently, permanently cannot possess a nuclear weapon. But I'm not going to forecast…"

Meanwhile, Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence and Kent’s immediate superior, who had previously stated she would quit rather than support US war on Iran, is testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday at a hearing focused on national security threats facing the US.

Asked if Gabbard's job in jeopardy right now, Leavitt said, "Not to my knowledge. We haven't heard the president say that. … So obviously that's a question for him…"

On Tuesday, Gabbard said that it was Trump who concluded that Iran was an "imminent threat."

"The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is responsible for helping coordinate and integrate all intelligence to provide the President and Commander in Chief with the best information available to inform his decisions," she said.

"After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion."